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Lucy’s Sweet Surrender Rises Again In Shaker Heights

Last December, loyal fans of Lucy’s Sweet Surrender turned out in droves to support the historic bakery. After more than 50 years, the venerable shop no longer fit its Buckeye Road location, but a new home wouldn’t come cheap, so supporters donated to help ease transition.

Their help paid off.

Owners Michael and Marika Feigenbaum open the doors to their “new” Old World bakery this March.

Lucy’s new location, in the old Chandler & Rudd Co. building on Chagrin Boulevard, boasts the same vintage charm as its original site but with some added comforts like fresh coffee from local roaster Rick Sheehan of Solstice Coffee.

Most importantly, all of Lucy’s famed sweets are still on the menu. Even the most labor-intensive goodies like pogácsas (Hungarian pork crackling scones), Russian tea biscuits and warm poppyseed rolls remain as popular as ever at the new locale.

While the recipes go back generations, the sourcing has kept pace with modern times. All of the years selling their sweets at farmers markets throughout the region have also connected Lucy’s owners with high-quality, dependable sources of fresh produce and now include, for example, Woolf Farm’s apples into its tried and true Hungarian recipes.

While this spring’s move a few miles east has been a major step for Lucy’s, it’s only the beginning—what the Feigenbaums are referring to as Phase One. In Phase Two, they’re looking to expand their operation, spread into the entire 7,000-square-foot building and add more local, made-from-scratch Eastern European foods to their offerings.

More remodeling will expand the dining room and create a community gathering place in the Van Aken district—which will be undergoing its own reinvention beginning in 2013 with the reconfiguration of the Warrensville/Van Aken intersection.

Plans for a grand re-opening party in May and, eventually, in-house strudel-making classes are also in the works.

Visit Lucy’s Sweet Surrender’s new location at 20314 Chagrin Blvd. and find them online at LucysSweetSurrender.com.